&%$^! – Bringing 3D printing to the mainstream of Kickstarter!

A 3D printing group is participating in a new Kickstarter campaign. No, they’re not building a new 3D printer or developing new CAD software. They were asked by a project that has nothing to do with technology to produce a cool reward for Kickstarter backers. We’re excited because this indicates 3D printing is hitting the mainstream – at least in Crowdfunding!

&%$^! – An Illustrative History in Profanity is a fun campaign to create and publish a history book that is colorful, in a manner of speaking! Of course they’re offering hardcover and ebook rewards – it is a publishing project after all. And they have the usual t-shirts and signed limited edition art. But they wanted something more…something cool, something hip, something 3D printed!

KC Harry of Toronto, Canada who leads the &%$^! Team’s marketing says she got the idea after attending a webinar about 3D printing. “There are now so many Kickstarter campaigns that offer all the usual stuff…stickers, magnets, t-shirts. We wanted something different and we couldn’t order a million of them from China to get a good price. Something 3D printed fit the bill. We can get small enough quantities for our project, and they’re cool!”

Since Ms. Harry has no CAD experience, she needed design help. A friend of the Maine FabLab in Rockland, Maine, Charles Duvall of Duvall Designs, came to the rescue. The owner of a fabric structure design/build firm for architectural, retail and exhibit creations, Duvall had bought a 3D printer to experiment with new concepts and is conversant in Rhino CAD software. “Although this is not my main business area, I was happy to help out. It was actually a lot of fun.”

The product idea was conceived in one day, the design finished in 2 days and a day later was added to the campaign as a new special reward. The rewards will be available in black, as shown, neon green or red and are available for just a $12 pledge.

&%$^! expresses just how we feel when our 3D printer is giving us fits! And we know you have similar &%$^! moments in your life too – whether or not you build technology.

Here’s the &%$^! – An Illustrative History in Profanity video

About Sarah Boisvert

Sarah Boisvert has worked in digital fabrication since 1986. She co-founded the commercial division of Potomac Photonics, Inc. , a Digital Fabrication service provider in Baltimore, MD for which she consults. She is also the founder of FabLabHub , a non-profit working on digital fabrication in makerspaces that are part of the Fab Lab Network started in the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms.

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